Rex Nelson: Arkansas College Football Picks Week 6

Featured, Football, Razorbacks | October 2, 2013 by Rex Nelson | 0 Comments

Each week throughout football season Sporting Life Arkansas excerpts Rex Nelson’s Weekly Arkansas College Football Picks and link to Rex’s Southern Fried Blog for his full predictions. Rex makes his prediction on every four-year college football team in the state. Enjoy.

What’s new on the college football front?

Well, Lane Kiffin is out at USC and our ol’ buddy Crazy Cajun Ed Orgeron is in (at least for now).

Wonder if I will get to hear “Col. Rebel Is Crying” on the radio again? That always makes me laugh.

Up in Fayetteville last Saturday, there were at least a few silver linings in all of those clouds. Alex Collins, for instance, topped 100 yards for the fourth time in five games. Johnny Manziel didn’t pass for as many yards as a lot of Razorback fans had feared he would, going 23 of 30 through the air for 261 yards and two touchdowns.

What was discouraging from an Arkansas standpoint was the fact that the Aggies rushed for 262 yards, averaging six yards per carry.

A&M topped 40 points for the eighth consecutive game, the longest such streak among the FBS schools.

An Aggie team was playing a football game at Fayetteville for the first time since the old Southwest Conference days in 1990. Arkansas leads the all-time series against A&M, 41-26-3. The Hogs are now 0-5 against reigning Heisman Trophy winners, having lost to Doak Walker and SMU in 1949, Matt Leinart and USC in 2005, Tim Tebow and Florida in 2008, Mark Ingram and Alabama in 2010 and Johnny Manziel and Texas A&M in 2013.

My longtime friend Kane Webb is now the editor of Louisville magazine. From his post in Kentucky, this native Arkansan still keeps a close eye on the Razorbacks and the rest of the Southeastern Conference. I wanted to share some of his thoughts:

“Having now watched five games of the Bielema era, the phrase that keeps coming to mind is, ‘They’ll be fine.’ This season could slide anywhere from 4-8 to 7-5 depending on breaks, and I imagine some Hog fans will see red at another losing record and rebuilding project. The frustration is understandable. This is the third time since Houston Nutt left that the program effectively has had to start over. That’s a lot of one step forward, two steps back. I’m not sure another fan base has had to endure this kind of nonstop rebuilding. But, like the first year of the Petrino blip, you can see improvement game to game. And that’s what should sate the fans this year.

“It’s remarkable that Arkansas keeps getting burned by ex-coaches who leave the cupboard bare. Nutt. Petrino. Only Danny Ford left his successor something to win with. Clearly, Bielema left some material behind at Wisconsin. Alas, he didn’t inherit a whole lot at Arkansas. While the talent level doesn’t seem as low as when Petrino took over — and maybe part of that was because Petrino’s system demanded a different kind of talent — Bielema is short on depth and skill position players. The two running backs are impressive, though neither has the speed of Darren McFadden or Felix Jones and, because of that, they’ve left some long runs out there.

“The quarterback? I don’t know if he will ever get to that top level. But he’s just a sophomore and now under another coach. So allow him the benefit of the doubt. Even if he doesn’t have all-conference skill, he will develop and improve, especially in a system that’s the same from year to year. Even with a B- quarterback, Arkansas can win — as long as it’s strong everywhere else and the B- quarterback doesn’t make stupid mistakes. Again, though, let’s give the benefit of the doubt. People forget that Bielema had a run of successful quarterbacks at Wisconsin. He has more quarterbacks in the NFL than Petrino. The Hogs need receivers. They need linebackers. They need beef.

“Where Bielema and his staff have really impressed is with basic instruction — that is, their players seem to know where they are supposed to be. They know where to line up and where to go. This is especially evident on defense, and an easy-to-see contrast with years past. The Hogs may give up points and chunks of yards but — this is new — they don’t cave because somebody blew an assignment. Time was, at least once or twice a game, the other team’s star receiver would have a nice 20- to 25-yard cushion to make an easy catch. Not so much anymore. That’s something.”

Interesting thoughts.

Last week’s record was 8-0, making the record for the season 33-6.